Just finished the 8 foot, 5/6 wt Steffen finally. Been working off and on for the past 3-4 months. Used cigar cork grip with downlocking Bellinger NS with rosewood insert, agate stripping guide, H&H chrome snake guides. Guidebrod chestnut wraps with Prowrap sunset trim band. Interesting to wrap on this blank, it still has the ridges in the top coat, so packing the wraps is done with more care, harder to write on too.

Nice Wayne. I just built the 8' 4/5wt and I am blown away by the versatility of the rod. You can blast out a streamer with it or a big Chernobyl or small PMD. First rod I have felt that excelled at all three.

Nice Wayne. I just built the 8' 4/5wt and I am blown away by the versatility of the rod. You can blast out a streamer with it or a big Chernobyl or small PMD. First rod I have felt that excelled at all three.

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Mike, are using a 4 or 5 wt line with it? I haven't fished with mine yet, I did put on a 5 wt Rio Gold and had no trouble casting the whole head, but it felt a little light. Might try a 6 wt, but thinking the 5 is going to be perfect.

I ended up with the 5/6, 8'6" rod. I love the rod and got a great buy on it used, but if I were starting from scratch I believe I'd prefer the 8' blank. The 8'6" isn't tippy at all, but it's a little heavy after a few hours of casting.

Wayne's comment about "casting a country mile" is unexplainable to me, but it's true. I don't really think I've found a distance limit yet with that rod. It should not be hard to cast the flyline. I use a #6 Rio Grand, half weight over floater, which in my hands is the perfect line. I also frequently use a Type IV 6wt. sinker and it does well with that too. This weekend I'll be chasing trout over shad in a large impoundment, and will be using the Steffen again. I cannot imagine a finer casting and fishing rod at any price.

Steve, I was set to buy a blank, but then talked to Mark Steffen, and told him my intended use was on lakes with occasional larger flies. He balked, and said that blank is a finesse rod and intended for stream fishing with dries or a small nymph, and would not cast larger flies or junk well. Those that have the rod love it, but just know what it's built for.

It's intended to be a small stream, dry fly rod. I have a 1 wt superfine that I built last year, but need something a bit bigger for some of the places I fish. So it sounds like this might be a good match. Thanks.

Now that the scales seem to be tipping toward a purchase, does anyone have a preference on the 3 vs. 4 piece version of the 8ft 3/4? More ferrules often means stiffer, but the Steffen web site argues that there's no difference with their spigot ferrules.

Also - Wayne - Sorry to hijack your thread. But that beautiful build got me energized around this project.